GOLF : Seve unleashes aces Dream pair of Thongchai, Thaworn to battle SwedesThe local dream team of Thongchai Jaidee and Thaworn Wiratchant will test their mettle against Swedish high-profile duo of Robert Karlsson and Niclas Fasth in the Asia versus Europe Royal Trophy at the Amata Spring Country Club.
European's captain Seve Ballesteros and Asian skipper Joe Ozaki announced their pairings for the foursomes, which kicks off at noon today.
Ozaki's decision to keep the country's stalwarts together will liven up the proceedings today as hundreds of local fans are expected to follow the pair.
Thongchai and Thaworn, who reigned on the Asian circuit between 2003-2005, will try to repeat the same feat as last year, when they took on the elite pair of Nick Faldo and Ian Woodsnam and won 6&5 in the foursome.
But Karlsson and Fasth, who already have experience of winning the Ryder Cup, will know how to exert pressure on the opposite side in match play. The towering six-feet five-inch Karlsson made a splendid debut in the Ryder contributing to the Europeans' domination over the US at the K Club last year, while Fasth, winner of the Mallorca Classic last season, debuted in the 2002 edition also won by Europe.
Another Thai hope Prom Meesawat, who enjoyed his best position on the Asian Tour of Merit at No 3 last season, will have to suppress his excitement when he pairs with Japan's Tetsuji Hiratsuka against Swedish Johan Edfors and Henrik Stenson for his Cup debut. He said senior countrymen Thongchai and Thaworn have given him tips to conquer the Amata course.
"I've been practising with Thongchai and Thaworn and they has given me tips on how to play on this course. I have to familiarise with the wind direction as well as the flag positions," said Prom, who, at 22, is the youngest player in the tournament.
But Toru Taniguchi of Japan and SK Ho of South Korea have been handed the toughest job in world golf - stop Lee Westwood. The Asian duo have been drawn against Westwood and his long-time partner Darren Clarke in a mouth-watering high noon shoot-out.
Westwood has proved unbeatable in the last two Ryder Cups, and immediately warned he is in no mood to give up that air of invincibility now that Asia have taken over from the USA as Europe's opponents.
He said: "I am one of the players up there to be shot at because of my Ryder Cup record. It is something I am extremely proud of. There can't be too many players in recent times who have remained unbeaten in two Ryder Cups after playing all 10 matches."
"I suppose I must be regarded as a good scalp to get now - but I fully intend to keep my hair on until we leave here on Sunday night, even though I know it is going to be difficult to stay unbeaten through three more matches.
"Our first match against the Asian team promises to be a very tight, hard-fought affair - but there are no easy matches at this level. We will have the edge in experience of playing as a team, but they have home advantage and crowd support.
"But I always start out these events in a confident frame of mind. My record in team events has been very good right through my career, and I have formed some potent partnerships with the likes of Nick Faldo, Sergio Garcia, Colin Montgomerie, and of course, Darren," he said.
"We are very comfortable playing together in both foursomes and four-balls, and we knew that coming out here to represent Europe again there was every chance we would be paired up again. So as Darren always says: 'Let them bring it on, partner'.
"We are very serious about this competition. Neither of us likes the sound of the word defeat, and thankfully it's not the one we hear too often when we team up together."
The famed Westwood and Clarke partnership were handed the responsibility of opening Europe's defence by captain Ballesteros after an entertaining twist on how to conduct a draw. Seve called heads correctly on the toss of a coin, and was given the option of naming his pairings first or second.
The super-confident Spaniard chose to surrender the advantage of knowing who the opposition would be before naming his duos, and immediately sent Clarke and Westwood into battle, at 12 noon local time.
After a few moments consideration, Ozaki announced that they would be tackled by his Japanese countryman Taniguchi and Ho.
The fact that Ozaki had not paired the two Koreans and the two Japanese players in his eight-man line-up came as a surprise. And it seemed as if the legendary Japanese star was playing a game of chess as he studied Seve's choices carefully before naming his pairings.
Seve's second selection was Paul McGinley and Anthony Wall, as he kept the four Swedes in his team as his tail-gunners.
Ozaki responded with the pairing of Asian champion Jeev Mikha Singh of India and YE Yang of Korea, two men who both won big tournaments on the European Tour towards the end of last year.
Stenson was paired with boyhood friend Edfors against Prom and Tetsuji Hiratsuka.
Ozaki admitted Seve's decision to go first had forced him to change his plans a couple of times.
"If I had won the toss first I would have sent out Thongchai and Thaworn as my opening pair, but I changed my mind," he said.
"Then I thought about sending them out second, and finally decided it was right to send them out in the fourth match. But I don't think it matters too much what order we play in. They are all difficult but great-looking matches."
Seve retained his confident air after seeing the full list of foursomes, due to go out at 12 minute intervals after the midday start. He said: "It looks very interesting, but I have been confident all along, and I predict that we will win the series 3-1."
The Nation
Friday January 12, 2007
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